(12 November 2000) – Beginning next week, the City of Orlando be able to get its first look at its new professional football team as the XFL’s Orlando Rage will conduct a mini-camp at the Citrus Bowl Complex, Nov. 14-18.
Head Coach Galen Hall is anticipating 29 skill position players to show up for the camp, which will include two daily workouts on “Thunder Field,” adjacent to the Florida Citrus Bowl. Participants include wide receivers, running backs, tight ends, quarterbacks and centers. The team will conduct a full squad mini-camp in December.
“This will be the first opportunity for our coaching staff to look at our skill people,” Hall said. “Our coaching staff and player personnel people worked extremely hard in evaluating the players in the draft. But until you get them on the field, you never really know what you have to work with.”
Quarterback Jeff Brohm, running back Derrick Clark, and wide receivers Mario Bailey, A.C. Tellison and Si Burley highlight the players that will participate. Brohm, the former NFL quarterback who had stints with San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Denver, was the Rage’s first round pick (fourth selection overall) in the recent XFL draft. Clark, a former star at Apopka High School, played five seasons under Hall in NFL-Europe and played a prominent role in the Rhein Fire’s World Bowl 98 victory.
Bailey led the University of Washington to a national championship in 1991 and has gone on to become the all-time leading receiver in the history of NFL-Europe. Tellison is the former Miami star wide receiver who was protected by the Rage as a territorial pick. Burley was a star at Central Florida University, where he caught 165 passes for 2,248 yards and 15 touchdowns in just two seasons. As with Tellison, Burley was one of 11 territorial players selected from Orlando’s assigned schools of Miami, Florida and UCF.
Running back Brian Shay will also participate in the camp. Shay, a 1998 graduate of Emporia State, set the all-time NCAA (all divisions) rushing record with 6,958 yards in his four-year career. Shay holds or shares 18 different NCAA football records and is college football’s all-time leader in touchdowns (88) and scoring (544 points).
The Rage will work out at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily on Tuesday through Friday, before concluding the mini-camp with a single workout on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All practice sessions are open to the media and general public.
One of eight teams in the next XFL, the Rage will open the 2001 season with a Feb. 3 home game against the Chicago Enforcers. The Rage will join the Las Vegas Outlaws as the two teams hosting games on opening night of the new league. The XFL is jointly owned by the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment (NYSE: WWF) and NBC. Season tickets and information is available by calling the Orlando Rage Ticket Office at 407-398-RAGE.
